Audio earpieces have become exceedingly versatile in their functionality. In addition to various audio playback capabilities, an increasing number of these earpieces allow the user to use the earpiece to detect the user's voice. As a result, earpieces have become exceedingly popular as a “hands free” device. These devices are available in both hardwired and wireless (e.g., Bluetooth) embodiments, and may be used in conjunction with a communication device, in voice recognition, in speech recognition, and even as part of a control system to allow the user to carry out a task without the use of the user's hands.
Earpieces generally include one or more speakers that can be removably placed with respect to the user's ear and output sounds to the user's ear. They allow the user to listen to audio playback without disrupting others in the surrounding environment. In addition, “hands free” earpieces typically include a microphone used to detect speech and other vocalizations emanating from the mouth of the user.
In some “hands free” earpieces, a microphone is coupled to a hollow elongated member and positioned with respect to one of the user's ears such that acoustic signals from the user's ear propagate through the hollow elongated member to the microphone. A general disclosure of such a design is provided in US Patent Publication No. 2009/0208047. The hollow elongated member may function as an acoustic waveguide. As such, the diameter and length of the hollow elongated member are selected so that audio signals in a desired frequency range (e.g., the frequency range associated with human speech) may be amplified while other frequencies may be attenuated. The length and diameter of the hollow elongated member dictates the size of the earpiece as the housing of the earpiece must accommodate the dimensions of the hollow elongated member. As a result, the size of the earpiece may be relatively large.